In 2017, our website had the pleasure to talk to one of the finest Blues-Rock gunslingers from Massachussets, United States, the young Guitar Prodigy Quinn Sullivan, about his (then) brand new record called Midnight Highway.
The record arrived on the back of Sullivan's acclaimed 2013 album called Getting There, an album that received excellent reviews from the music press all over the world.
Midnight Highway, in many respects, was an album that, back in 2017, confirmed not only that the artist fulfilled the expectations of his numerous fans, but also his talent, musical growth and artistic maturity of an exceptional guitarist and singer/songwriter in constant sonic development, as Sullivan clearly demonstrated on Midnight Highway.
BR - Hi Quinn, thank you so much for your time today, discussing your brand new record called Midnight Highway with our website. Has the new album been written and recorded in different stages, or has it been a rather straightforward fast process, with you knowing exactly what the new record should have sounded like and what the general idea about what then became Midnight Highway was going to be?
QS - Thanks for having me here. The record was done basically in a period of two years. We started, if I'm not mistaken, to work on it around 2015, which was the first writing stage. We worked, my Team and I, on the new record pretty much in the same way we did for my previous albums, i.e. going in the studio for a weekend, initially, where we would record 3 or 4 songs in a couple of days. Then we would go home for a bit and then we would come back at it a few months later. In brief, this was the process we followed. I believe, after we recorded in Nashville, that the final stage of recording the album was some times in the middle of 2016 and to be honest with you, I am very pleased with its outcome.
BR - We saw this record as a body of work that assembled together different sides of your musical vision and we feel that this is the most eclectic record of yours to date. In terms of the styles that you used, on Midnight Highway, do you feel that the different genres showcased on the record are the result of a conscious decision of yours to display to your fans how far you can stretch your talent, as a guitarist and as a singer/songwriter?
QS - It was certainly an intentional will, for me, to do so on my new record. I have so many musical influences, artists and different bands that I love.. The way I see it, it's that my music is the result of the several influences I received whilst growing up as a music fan and as an artist. I liked to display, on this record, my love for Americana and Rock, in a way that the two genres could live together in perfect symbiosis and I feel I managed to accomplish that. Moreover, I also wanted to show to my fans old and new that musically, I don't necessarily stick on one only music style and this record was a sort of a way to tell them about the way I see and feel music now in 2017.
BR - Quinn, is it right for our website to ask you whether this record is a sort of rite of passage for you, given the way that not only your music style has expanded so brilliantly, but also in view of the fact that you are now writing your own songs too and the quality of your vocal delivery has improved even further, as Midnight Highway clearly shows?
QS - I guess I can see your point. I have certainly worked a lot to get better, both as a singer and also as a songwriter. I feel that the more you write ideas down, the more you pay attention to what you're writing. That, at least for me, helped me to focus on the song-writing content of each songs I wrote every day more and more. With regards to the singing, I think that if you sing every day, in times your voice will benefit and for me, the live performances most certainly helped me. Like, if I have 5 or 6 shows on consecutive nights, by the 5th or 6th night my voice is really really strong, compared to the first night. Sure enough, to practise, that helps too, undoubtedly. I like to make sure that, every time I plan to embark a new tour, I perfect vocal harmonies beforehand, so to ensure that I deliver on stage the best possible vocals each night. Lately, I felt like I was working a lot more on my vocals than my guitar playing, but I guess that the reason for that, is that to play guitar, it comes so natural and I don't feel the need to perfect to the bone my guitar playing, because that was something I have enjoyed doing since I was 3-years-old. But the vocals, well, probably they also changed as my age changes, therefore it becomes an aspect of my music that I constantly need to focus and work on, because it's something that evolves constantly with time.
BR - Quinn, how much creative juice has the presence of your producer Tom Hambridge brought to the making of Midnight Highway, in your opinion?
QS - His contribution has been fabulous. I mean, he's been such a working force, while I was making this record. He's a guy that can nail two songs in an hour with such incredible technical precision just like that, he's unbelievable. He's really good at getting right to the point really quickly, which works a lot of the time for me, because, you know, when you're doing a lot of songs in one day and you have, by the end of a recording day, 4 songs wrapped and completed, that is really brilliant. Tom is also such a great guy to work with. We've really cultivated a great friendship, over the years and I feel that he's been there the whole time, when we were making the album and he never really doubted me, you know, which is very important, for me. He's always been in my corner, helped me out a lot with different things, musically and he's just a really great guy in general. He's basically your friend the first time you meet him... So, to be able to work with him on this album, it was really fun and a great experience overall. All the records I've done with him have been great, but I think with this one, I kind of had a little more creative input on it. I think that he respected that and I think that we came up with a lot of cool things, on this record.
BR - The closing track of your new record, Buffalo Nickel, brought most of our Team at Bluebird Reviews to tears, because of its beauty and its intensity. What is the story behind that wonderful instrumental, Quinn?
QS - Oh, wow, that is so nice to hear, thank you. I guess it was special in many ways, because that tune doesn't only close the album but it was also the last track ever to be recorded of Midnight Highway. It was a very impromptu kind of tune and we did it in one take. We were so pleased of that first take that we decided not to record a second one, because that take felt so special. I think it was recorded between 9.30 and 10pm at night and we thought, once we recorded that take, that was the best way not only to finish the record and that recording day, but also to provide a kind of an epic end to the record. The band did such a phenomenal job too, not only on the album overall, but also on that final instrumental.
BR - Quinn, among the very talented musicians working on your new album, you had also that extraordinary musician and experienced player that is Reese Wynans. Was this the first time that you worked together with him on a record of yours?
QS - When Reese joined the band working on my album, we had, prior to this record, worked together on a song called She Gets Me, which was recorded originally as a single about 3 years ago. We ended up putting this song on this record, because I thought that was fitting wonderfully within the context of the album. Meeting and working again with Reese was really incredible, I mean, such an honour for me, given his huge musical background and his exceptional talent. I think I am not exaggerating in saying that he is one of the best out there.
BR - Quinn, just between you and us of Bluebird Reviews, how easy or not has it been for you, a true Beatles lover, to resist to the temptation of cutting your own version of the Beatles' classic While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which sounded really special on your new record?
QS - That is a great question, because when we were going to to do this album, I really wanted to put at least one cover on it and at the time, we had about 5 or 6 songs that we were toying with the idea of recording; then we kind of narrowed it down to 2 or 3 and one of those was, indeed, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I'm a huge Beatles fan and I have been ever since I was a little kid, to the point that when I grew up, myself and some local musicians and friends used to do Beatles shows, playing some of their big hits, included While My Guitar.., which was one of my most favourite. While working on the making of Midnight Highway, I said to Tom "we really should do this", also because I do know how much he shares the same love I have for The Beatles too. When we started recording it, I didn't want to get too far away from from the original, because that song was recorded originally in such a specific way and, you know, with some songs, you may eventually take some sonic licences but not with a classic like that. I like to think I still made it my own, in some ways, but we surely tried to make our very best to maintain that song as much legit and close to the original as we possibly could.
BR - Love is the main theme running through the album, no matter what music style you're playing. We are referring to a universal type of love, love for life, for people and for music. How much does this album reflect the moment of your life that you're living right now? Has this positive stage of your life that transpires from your album influenced the way you approach in writing and recording your new music too, Quinn?
QS - I guess that, in some ways, the album was born out of immediacy and often, in my albums, i don't plan in advance something specific to talk about. Then, when all the songs were ready and I listened back to them, like it happened to me on this album, I went "Wow, this actually follows some sort of storyline!" I most certainly think too that love has a lot to do with my new songs, because I've been surrounded by a lot of love, over the years, so many great people in my life. I've had great parents that supported me along the way, ever since I was a kid; I've had Buddy Guy, who was my mentor and one of my best friends, I already mentioned Tom, my producer.. a lot of different really key people to me, still in these days. I think that it just came out naturally, to talk about love, more specifically, universal love, as you rightly suggested in your question. I feel so privileged in my life that i can make records, tour the world and the love that comes back to me from the crowds in such a spontaneous and universal way, I feel it plays a part in the mood running through my new record.
BR - Quinn, one of our most favourite songs off Midnight Highway is Eyes For You, which we felt had a strong vibe of 70's Folk-style to it. Can you tell us about the making of the song and who was providing the backing vocals, on that particular tune?
QS - Love the question. That was my producer Tom's daughter, Sarah, who sang with me on that song. I just happened to meet her by coincidence last night and I thanked her once again for the vocal contribution on that song. I think she was that missing ingredient that I was looking for and thankfully, Tom suggested Sarah to be part of it.
BR - Quinn, the late great Chuck Berry, who just passed away, sadly, he once stated that "My music is simple stuff. Anybody can sit down, look at a set of symbols and produce sounds the music represents". Should you describe, in your own words, what music is and what does it mean for you in 2017 to any old or new fan of yours, which words would you choose?
QS - Right now, music is, to me, it's universal language, a little like the love we discussed in one of your previous questions. I think a lot of people, around the world, can identify with it. I probably don't have the greatest words in the world I can use, like Chuck Berry did, about what you are asking me. All I can say is that, to me, music has still the power of bringing people together, touch them and help to release their emotions at their most spontaneous way. When I mentioned music being a universal language, I guess I can speak out of experience. Every time I go on tour, I am fortunate enough to travel in several different countries to play my music and from a stage, you can notice that similar, genuine response that you get from the crowd, no matter where you are in the world. That, to me exemplifies at the very best that special power music carries within. A wonderful, universal esperanto type of language that bring us all together.
